Materials responding to climate change

Instead of using baked clay bricks in construction, they should make use of concrete bricks and take advantage of waste materials to reduce the use of natural resources.

>>>Turn dirty sand into clean sand

Developing materials in the right direction will solve both the most important issues in responding to climate change (CC). That is to minimize harms and adapt to climate change, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Huu Hanh, Dean of Construction Materials, University of Civil Engineering.

In fact, it is possible to replace brick walling materials with lightweight concrete such as gas and foam.

There are many technologies for producing concrete and creating
Paving bricks from waste. (Photo: Bich Ngoc)

According to calculations, to produce 1 billion clay bricks with standard size will consume 1.5 million m3 of clay, equivalent to 75ha of agricultural land and 150 tons of coal, discharging about 0.57 million Tons of carbon dioxide cause greenhouse effect and other harmful emissions pollute the environment. Thus, instead of using burnt clay, it is possible to use waste rock waste to take advantage of waste, reduce natural resource use, reduce land area to store waste products.

Another solution pointed out by PGS Hanh's research is: using rice husk ash, fly ash to produce high strength concrete. As forecast, by 2020, there will be 28 more thermal power plants in operation. Accordingly, the amount of ash emitted annually will then be nearly 60 million tons. Currently, factories are using this reservoir to store waste ash. Meanwhile, fly ash or rice husk ash can be used in food production to produce concrete with a intensity of 70-90Mpa (adhesion strength, bearing capacity) with ash content of about 20% instead of cement. This is the basic type of concrete to use for large bridges, high-rise buildings are beginning to be popular in Vietnam.